UPPER GWYNEDDÂ â The two newest members of the Upper Gwynedd Police Department are currently in training, but already online.Â
Police Officer Matt Toro recently gave the board a preview of the department s next two officers, both of the four-legged variety. There are many different ways to get a police dog. It wasn t as simple as just going to one vendor, Toro said.
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Late in 2019 the department decided to proceed with establishing a police canine unit, Toro said, and he and fellow officer Ed Tartar have done extensive research since then on where and how to find their future partners. Their selection was the University of Pennsylvania s PennVet Center, Toro told the board, and he and Tartar have chosen two dogs, a Belgian Malinois named Fury and a Dutch Shephard named Gunner, who are currently being trained for bomb and drug detection.
UPPER GWYNEDDÂ â The start of 2021 has brought a change to Upper Gwynedd s volunteer firefighter incentive program.
The township commissioners voted unanimously on Jan. 19 to modify the township s incentive program to give the local fire department more control. During this year s budget process, the board of commissioners changed the Upper Gwynedd Fire Department s stipend program, to a volunteer program retention allocation of $60,000, said commissioner Katherine Carter.
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In 2018 the then-commissioners adopted a local incentive program creating an earned income tax credit of up to $1,000 per year on firefighters who live in, and pay earned income taxes to, the township. Since then, Carter told the commissioners on Jan. 19, the fire department has proposed a different incentive program, which would give the fire company more control over the allocation set aside in the township budget.